Val'nara
by DarkDevon13
Summary: After responding to a distress signal, Voyager receives a new passenger on their voyage through the Delta Quadrant. But will old grudges and ancient rivalries stand in the way of getting home? Rated T to be safe
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

Disrupting nebulas, rouge asteroids, hostile aliens, it was almost as if the sector was out to get her. It had definitely taken its toll on her little ship. When she'd started piloting this little thing, she certainly hadn't expected to be transported a couple thousand lightyears from home! But, she wasn't going to think about it right now, because right now the said ship was on the verge of total obliteration.

Val'nara, ship's pilot, and only passanger, ran up and down the halls, dodging the odd explosion and rapidly punching in codes into every consul that wasn't already destroyed or completely fried to hell. It would seem futile to anyone else, but if Val'nara was anything, she was stubborn.

As she fled back and forth through the nooks and crannies, wisps of her long dark hair fell out of her sloppy ponytail and into her dark-rimmed-yet surprisingly still alert-eyes. Elements, when was the last time she'd slept? Whenever it was it certainly hadn't been recently.

She hurried up a maintenance ladder, her leather boots clanking as she tried to hurry up it as fast as she could. There wasn't much time before her tiny ship would reach it's breaking point. She scrambled over to the pilot's chair on the small bridge, swiping some debris off the consul and trying to ignore the loud alarms ringing in her pointy ears. Taking a deep breath, she hoped against hop as she sent out the strongest distress signal her ship could muster. She tried not to breath so much as she felt the life support starting to fail. Elements willing, a larger, fully-functioning, _nice _ship would come along and rescue her. She leaned back into her chair as she heard more explosions ring out throughout the ship. Val'nara fought against the encroaching darkness, though the more cynical part of her brain told her how hopeless this was.

The ship was falling apart around her, life support was going, and what air remained smelled of smoke and burning electronics. She was close to passing out. Near tears, she took one last look towards the foreword viewscreen, expecting to at least have a nice last picture in her mind before she was blown to bits. And that's when she saw it. A white glimmer of hope at the end of a long, dark tunnel. A giant, metal-platted glimmer of hope. Somewhere that was not here.

Val'nara's consul beeped, and she realized that she was being hailed. She pressed it, but with all the static, the alarms and explosions, combined with the already weak signal, it was highly unlikely they heard her. But she had to try.

"Listen, I don't know who you are and you probably don't know who I am but could you please-" The static cut the message short, the comm channel going dead at the worst possible moment. _Screw my life, or the few seconds that's left of it at least._

The last thing she saw was the ship against the endless sea of stars. The last thing she felt was the sensation of every particle of her being coming apart.

And then, blackness.

* * *

Val'nara woke with a start. It was hard to tell how long she'd been out, But it must have been quite some time given how rested she felt. Damn, when was the last time she had slept uninterrupted? She was lying on her back, possibly on a biobed.

"Ah, look who's finally woken up." Above her loomed the face of a human man, filled with concern, creating wrinkled on his forehead and cheeks. He had dark hair, which was balding- a strange sight to her. The men of her people only went bald voluntarily by shaving their own heads. There was a tone to his voice that Val'nara couldn't quite identify. It was either concern or sarcasm-maybe both.

She sat up in the bed-at least she wasn't restrained- and the man walked over to a tray of medical equipment and picked up a hypospray.

"You've taken quite a tumble I see," Okay _that_ was sarcasm. Or massive understatement. Maybe both. She looked around, she was definitely in sickbay –or a sickbay. With a ship of this size it wasn't inconceivable that there might be more than one.

"That's one way of putting it, I guess." There were several other biobeds-all unoccupied- and a small office space. As she looked around, the man-or she supposed, the doctor- injected her with another hypospray. He wore a mostly-black uniform with a turtleneck and green shoulders. She could swear she'd seen it before but wasn't quite sure where.

"So, how exactly did a Romulan end up in our little corner of the galaxy?"

Val'nara opened her mouth to respond when suddenly, the doors to sickbay opened, revealing a woman wearing a red variant of the green uniform the doctor was wearing.

She suddenly recognized the insignia; Starfleet. Crap. If there was one thing you learned growing up on Romulus it was that Romulans and Starfleet did not mix. The woman seemed pleasant enough for now, but Val'nara couldn't help but see the suspicion in her eyes.

"Hello, I'm Captain Kathryn Janeway of the USS Voyager. I wish we'd have met under better circumstances, but I'm glad we were able to help none the less," then she smiled, obviously trying to put Val'nara at ease, though it only succeed in putting her more on edge. Hostile suspicious humans she knew how to deal with, but friendly ones? That just threw her through a loop.

"I'm Val'nara, and uh, thanks for getting me out of that mess." That was a massive understatement, but she was genuinely grateful to be rescued, no matter if her rescuers were Starfleet.

"No problem, although I'm sorry to say your ship wasn't so lucky."

Val'nara frowned and sighed, displeased but not surprised. "I thought as much. Poor thing's been taken quite a beating these past few weeks, I'm actually surprised Songbird held up as long as it did. It was probably falling to pieces even before the ion storm hit."

"Songbird?"

"Yeah, that was the name of my ship, it's goofy I know but… it was mine." That wasn't entirely accurate, it had belonged to her father, she'd named it when she was six years old, and it had seemed perfectly reasonable at the time. To her at least.

Captain Janeway felt conflicted for a moment. There wasn't much of an established protocol for this. The young Romulan obviously wasn't military or Tal'Shiar, her grey jumpsuit didn't have any sort of insignia and it was severely lacking shoulder pads, and it's not like they could just leave her out in the middle of nowhere.

"How did you end up in the Delta Quadrant?"

Val'nara sighed. "I was testing out my new ship when I somehow ended up getting pulled into a subspace rift. By the time I figured my way out of it, I was stuck in the middle of the Delta Quadrant, and a couple thousand lightyears from home." She had to admit it though, it was pretty cool being able to put in that kind of distance in less than five hours.

"I assume you'll want to stay with us for the time being…unless you want to be dropped off someplace else." Val'nara could swear the Captain was hoping she'd choose the later. She inwardly rolled her eyes. Well, they could drop her off at a some sort of spacedock or shuttle port, find work and try to hichhike her way back to the Beta Quadrant, but that could take a few years, maybe even decades. But on the other hand it's not like she could live among these humans for an extended period of time...could she? Let's see, unknown species and planets and systems on one hand, and a familiar and old enemy on the other. _Lucky me._ Val'nara thought._  
_

The young woman bit her lip, obviously thinking it over for a moment.

"You're headed towards the Alpha Quadrant, right? This isn't one of those five-year, deep space missions I've heard about?"

"We're heading there as fast as we're able to, unfortunately getting back to the Alpha Quadrant might take some time."

"Define 'some time.'"

Captain Janeway hesitated for a second. "Our best guess would be about forty years." Fourty years!? That definitely would take some time. Thinking about it though, forty years wasn't so long a time for a Romulan aw it would be for a human. It certainly would give them plenty of time to get to know one another.

Val'nara smiled. "I think I'll take my chances with you then." _Sometimes it's better with the devil you know..._

"I'll send someone to escort you to your new quarters, but for now I'll have to ask you to stay in sickbay." With that, Captain Janeway left. Well, it wasn't the brig, she could be grateful for that.

"So… you already know who I am, what are you called?" She asked the as yet unnamed doctor.

"I am the Emergency Medical Hologram or EMH for short. But to most I'm referred to as 'the Doctor'."

"A Hologram? Huh, they're not used much on Romulus. Are you, like…. sentient? Or is that completely rude of me to ask?"

The Doctor smiled, "Yes, I am perfectly sentient, and no, it's not at all rude."

"Good, so…. Are you familiar with Romulan physiology?" He was a Starfleet hologram, and the Empire and Starfleet didn't exactly exchange information. Of any kind. At all. Well, up until the Dominion War at least.

The Doctor frowned slightly. "Not specifically, no. But to my understanding it's extremely similar to a Vulcan's. You should be perfectly fine under my care, Val'nara."

She certainly hoped so.

"I imagine it's a little disorienting, given all you've been through. Your scans told quite the tale; dehydration, sleep deprivation, radiation burns, need I go on?" He ran a dermal regenerator over a tiny burn scar on her arm.

"In my defense it's hard to run a ship all by yourself." the Doctor smiled.

"I imagine it would be." There was an awkward pause for about ten seconds before Val'nara spoke.

"So what do you Federation-types do for fun around here."

"Well, socializing is done mostly in the mess hall, but I've noted that most crew enjoy their off hours in the holodeck. My favorite program is Verdi's _Madame Butterfly." _Val'nara looked at him like he'd grown an additional head.

"It's a holonovel based off of a classic Earth opera. It's quite enjoyable if you ever want to try it."

"Sounds... interesting." She was saved from further conversation by the entrance of another woman, this time blonde and not wearing a uniform. She had a cybernetic implant above her right eye.

"Doctor, I am here for my regularly scheduled maintenance." The woman then looked at Val'nara with an expression one might call curious.

"Right away, Seven." He started doing something off to the side, as Val'nara and 'Seven' regarded each other.

"You are Romulan." It was more of a statement than a question. At least she was direct.

"Pretty much."

"Species 614, your biological and technological distinctiveness was unable to be added to our own."

"Um, okay..." Val'nara had no idea what to make of that. Out of any of this really. She just hoped it wouldn't last for long.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

She was escorted from sickbay by a Vulcan named Tuvok. It was a little weird, seeing another species so identical to her own, yet polar opposites in terms of personality and behavior.

"Are you ready to leave?" Lieutenant Tuvok asked.

"I think so." Val'nara said, still half expecting someone to shoot her.

"I will show you to your quarters." Lieutenant Tuvok said, and Val'nara followed him outside.

The corridors were sterile, sleek. Crewmen passed in every direction, all giving Val'nara a stare or a double take. She met their eyes confidently, hiding the fact that her jaw was clenched tight, and her brain was working overtime. _Act like you had the perfect right to be there and no one would question you,_ that was what her father had told her. This obviously didn't apply to Federation starships.

She had accepted the fact that she was stuck here the moment. That wasn't a hugest issue. She just couldn't see herself doing nothing for the next 50 years. She may be a natural born pilot, but it's not like they would hand over control of their ship to a teenage Romulan. She would have to find something to do, or the Doctor would be treating her for insanity soon enough.

The Doctor seemed like a nice enough person, even if he had an ego the size of the Beta Quadrant. Val'nara doubted that there was anyone close to her age on board from the people she had seen so far, and she couldn't live the life of a hermit, no matter how much Romulans and the Federation disliked each other. She would have to at least prove herself to not be a threat. First things first though. She needed a long shower, a hairbrush, and some different clothes. She stood out like a sore thumb, and although she wouldn't be caught dead in one of those uniforms, maybe she could find something a little less...grey.

Tuvok stopped in front of a plain door. It looked like all the rest. "These are your living quarters. Inside you have a sonic shower, a replicator, and other necessities. These quarters are normally reserved for senior staff, but the Captain has made an exception. Any questions?"

"Um, yeah. Anything specific I should know?"

Lieutenant Tuvok raised an eyebrow "Replicator privileges are rationed to conserve energy. You may use it to replicate some different clothing selections if you wish. Tell the computer what you need and it will give it to you. Neelix will be by to collect you at 1700 hours. It is currently 1500 hours. Good day." With that, Lieutenant Tuvok turned and strode away.

"Thanks" Val'nara muttered, more to herself than to the Vulcan's retreating back. She stepped up to the doors. They didn't open. There was a small keypad next to the door. She pressed one of the buttons experimentally, and the doors slid open. She stepped inside, and they closed.

The room was fairly large. It was partitioned into two sections; one containing a bed, one containing two chairs, a table, and a machine. Val'nara entered the side with the bed. She found another door. This one had the same touchpad. She pressed the same button, the doors opened, and she stepped inside, feeling relieved that at least the doors were relatively the same.

Inside was a mirror and something that looked like a shower. A single towel sat next to it. She stripped out of her grey jumpsuit and stepped inside. Here was another one of the control panels. She pressed the button marked on and a sound filled the air. Instantly, her muscles relaxed. She had no idea how tense she really was. The waves pressed against her entire body. If this was a typical shower, she was glad she was here.

The thought brought back memories of Romulus. It was so far away. She may never see it again. She could be stuck on this ship for a very long time. Was she okay with that? When she pictured her planet, it looked beautiful. _But_ Val'nara thought _Doesn't everyone feel that way about their homeworld? _She forgot about the tensions within the Empire, the ever-oppressive Tal'Shiar, even her father's death. But it existed. She wasn't exactly always happy there, but it was home.

She stepped out after turning off the sonic shower. Wrapping the plush, white towel around herself, she stepped out into the bedroom. The machine in the other room must be the replicator.

She walked over to it. There were at least three-dozen buttons.

"Hello? Computer?" She asked, and there was a beep.

"I need to, ah, replicate some clothes." Val'nara said.

"Specify." A cool, female voice said.

"Female clothes." Val'nara said, feeling surer of herself every second.

"Specify." The computer said, again.

"Hm, how about you show me the options?"

The computer screen in front of her displayed a woman dressed in a high-collared dress. Definitely not her style. She was all about comfortable practicality.

"Show me more casual stuff." Val'nara said, and flipped through the options. The styles weren't as different as the ones on Romulus, although there certainly wasn't as many shoulder pads. Suddenly she came across a style she liked. Dark leather jacket, a navy blue t-shirt and trousers referred to as 'blue jeans'. Apparently it was a style dating back centuries into Earth's history.

"Oh, perfect. Wait…please change shirt color to… white." The image changed as specified.

"Okay, now, replicate" There was a buzzing, and a few seconds later, the jacket, t-shirt and jeans appeared on the small platform.

"Awesome," It was nice to know that the replicators also worked the same way.

The clothes fit perfectly. How that was possible she didn't know, but they stretched when she moved yet were tight along her form.

"Um, computer? Can I have a hairbrush?" The replicator worked its magic once more, and she stroked through the rat's nest her hair had become recently. Though the fashionable Romulan hairstyle was to keep it cut short, Val'nara was different. She liked to keep her hair long, with fringe bangs hanging in her face. It was a bit out of the ordinary, but nothing so much as strange as seeing a shaved head. But when she'd decided to get bright red highlights in her hair she'd certainly been pushing it.

She reclined in one of the chairs, waiting until 1700 hours. The time systems were the same also. She could see the stars out the wide window. They zoomed past as flecks of light, drawn out by the speed they were going. She watched for a few minutes, entranced by their beauty. She started thinking about what she could do on Voyager.

For the first time since she came on board, she felt like maybe she could fit in here, with time. Things didn't seem so bad. Maybe one day they'll even trust her to do the piloting. Elements, it was finally starting to sink in. She'd lost her Songbird, her home away from home, the ship that'd saved her life more times than she could count. It was probably stupid to be mourning the loss of a _ship_, but…

Val'nara was startled from her thoughts by a beep.

"Come in," she called.

"Ah, hello there. My name is Neelix. I'm your tour guide, helper, whatever you need." The man said.

Val'nara knew it was rude, but she stared. His face was spotted, dark patches in the hollows of his cheeks. Fine ginger hair ran along the top of his head and along his lower jaw in tufts. He was not human.

"You're… Talaxian, right?"

"Yes, how did you know?" Was it her imagination or did he seem… hopeful?

"About a week ago I encountered a Talaxian merchant ship, they were friendly enough, I didn't have anything much to trade though."

"Oh, well now, if you'd like to follow me, I'll show you to the mess hall. We can get some food in you there." Neelix smiled widely again.

Val'nara looked at his face. It was so open, so kind. Friendliness was probably the wisest choice, she decided.

"That's sounds great. I'm starved." She said with a wide smile of her own.

They walked down the corridors, Neelix saying hello to every crewman they passed. Each one still looked at Val'nara. Some even seemed openly hostile.

"Don't mind them. They're just curious. It's not everyday we add a new member to the crew." Neelix told her.

"It's also not every day they see a Romulan on a Federation ship that isn't in shackles." She more grumbled that to herself.

"I'm sorry, I don't understand your meaning, I thought Romulans were from the Alpha Quadrant, just like humans."

"Yeah, and that's about all we have in common. In case no one's told you already, Romulans and the Federation…don't exactly get along." The Talaxian had the good sense not to question her further on it.

Val'nara began to ignore the glances after a while. She busied herself with asking Neelix questions, ones that he was more than happy to answer.

"What is your job?" She asked.

"I have a lot, actually. Ah, I am the moral officer, ambassador, chef, advisor, and sometimes even an unofficial counselor." Neelix replied before turning to the left. Val'nara followed obediently into the room.

There were at least a dozen people inside. Val'nara saw a few yellow uniforms along with red and green. Everyone seemed to get quiet when she walked in, and she was pretty sure it wasn't her imagination.

"What'll it be?" Neelix asked her, approaching a replicator.

"Well I suppose you wouldn't have any Romulan cuisine in there would you?"

"No, but if you had any recipes you'd like to share-"

"Neelix, the only cooking skills I have involve two slices of bread and meat. Anyway, just surprise me, I guess" Val'nara felt as if every pair of eyes in the room was boring into her back. She was Romulan, she would not be intimidated.

Neelix said something indecipherable to the replicator and turned, holding a tray with a bowl of soup and a mug of black coffee.

"Thank you." Val'nara took the tray and followed him to a corner table. The conversation had resumed in the room, much to her relief.

Tentatively, Val'nara dipped her spoon into the soup and brought it to her mouth. Her eyes went wide with surprise and she had another spoonful.

"Good?" Neelix asked.

"Amazing! What is it?" Val'nara asked.

"A self-made delicacy I call Valnokian soup." Neelix answered.

"I salute your cooking." Val'nara said, taking another spoonful. It seemed to immediately re-energize her. While she ate, Neelix regaled her with more of Voyager's escapades.

"Where next?" Val'nara asked after she cleared the dishes into the replicator again.

"Well, I was thinking Engineering." Val'nara slightly frowned at that.

"Is there something wrong?"

"Are you sure the Captain would like me running around in Engineering? It is one of the more… sensitive areas of the ship."

"Nonsense, I'm sure B'Elanna would be glad to meet you."

"If you're sure…"

The walk went by quickly. Neelix told Val'nara more about the ship and their adventures, and she listened intently as he regaled her with stories.

Engineering turned out to be spectacularly confusing. It was bustling with activity. Neelix immediately headed over to a woman with short, curly hair, giving orders to a puzzled man.

"Not a good time, Neelix." She said quickly, striding to a console.

"But, Lieutenant, this is our newcomer. I'm sure she would enjoy meeting the senior staff." Neelix said.

"Neelix, it's fine. We should go." Val'nara said quickly. "Sorry to bother you." She added as the woman looked at her.

She recognized the forehead ridges. The woman was obviously half Klingon, a species known for their short tempers.

"You're Romulan."

"Pretty much," Val'nara said dryly.

"Well, if Voyager can contain a Starfleet and Maquis crew, I'm sure one Romulan won't be a big deal. At the present moment, I'm extremely busy." The woman said, and she bustled off.

"That was chief engineer Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres." Neelix told Val'nara as they hurried out of Engineering. They walked in silence for a few moments.

"She mentioned 'Maquis', isn't that a group of Human terrorists hounding the Cardassians?" Though Romulans rarely concerned themselves with things that didn't concern them, the Maquis attacks had come up in more than one news report. Neelix shrugged.

"What are your interests?" He asked Val'nara.

"Interests?" Val'nara repeated.

"You know, what do you like doing? If you are staying with us, you'll need something to do."

"Well, I'm a trained pilot, but I doubt that's helpful. I also love riding hoverbikes. It's the closest thing to flying found on land."

"Nonsense, we always could use another pilot, I'm sure Lieutenant Paris will be glad to give you a few pointers. As for hoverbikes I'm sure there's a holodeck program you could use."

Val'nara looked at him smiling for a moment of complete bewilderment. "No one has ever been this kind to me before." She finally said. Well, no one since her father.

"Voyager is a kind place. They took me in four years ago. They help people on a regular basis. It's our job." Neelix replied.

She smiled. "It's a nice job."


End file.
